Body Symbolism in the Bible

by Silvia Schroer, Thomas Staubli, Linda M. Maloney (Translator)

Overview

Many people with illnesses seek healing in religions and practices that are only weakly inculturated among us. Our understanding and use of such foreign wisdom is often just as superficial; but it is easily understood against the background of a centuries-long Christian tradition of interpreting the Bible in a way hostile to the body, particularly the female body.

In Body Symbolism in the Bible, Schroer and Staubli offer a better understanding of this subject by exploring the symbolism of various body parts in the Bible. They reinterpret and thereby reclaim the notion of the body as a temple of God so that regard for the body can lead to respect for the human rights of women and men. Exploring the topic through the lenses of theological anthropology and biblical spirituality, their presentation will surely add clarity to our understanding and generate future discussion.

Richly illustrated in full color.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814687796
Publisher:	Liturgical Press
Publication date:	05/05/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	9 MB

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xiii
	Abbreviations	xv
	Introduction	1
I.	Aspects of Theological Anthropology: From the Human Being to the Male and Female Body	1
1.	"And God made humankind in the divine image." Human beings as images of God	1
2.	"The human being has no advantage over the beast." The vulnerable creature	4
3.	"Ecce homo." Philosophical and theological answers to the human question	6
	Jewish Teaching About Adam	6
	Christian Dialectic Between Adam and Christ	7
	Gnostic Speculations about Adam	8
	The Human in Islam: Between God and the Devil	8
	Triumph Over the Body in Western Philosophy	9
	The Star of Redemption in the Face of God	9
	The Truth in the Otherness of Others	10
	The Sacramentality of the Body	11
	Physical Community as Committed Church	12
	Women's Lives as the Measure of Liberation	13
4.	"What is the human being ...?" In search of a body-oriented biblical anthropology	14
	Hans Walter Wolff's Old Testament Anthropology	14
	James Barr's Objections to a Biblical Anthropology	16
	Feminist Perspectives in Biblical Anthropology	18
II.	Aspects of Biblical Body Spirituality: From Sinful Flesh to the Temple of God	22
1.	"This ... is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Aspective apprehension and description of the body	22
2.	"Your eyes are like doves." Beauty as expressive rather than perfected form	24
3.	"My body dwells securely." Physical prayers of physical people	28
4.	"This is my body." The celebration of the body in the celebration of the bread	29
5.	"And the Word was made flesh." God becomes a real body	31
6.	"Speak but a word." Healing of body and spirit	33
7.	"Faith, love, hope." Jesus' praxis of eyes, hands, and feet	34
8.	"She has performed a good service for me." Bodily wellness and the erotic	36
9.	"Glorify God in your body." The body as temple of the Holy Spirit	38
1.	An Understanding Heart	41
	Symbol of the Inner Person	42
	Heart and Heartlessness: Intelligence and Stupidity	43
	The Place of Spiritual Treasures and Secrets	44
	Human Conscience	46
	Heart and Hurt: A Contrast with the Western Tradition of the Heart	49
2.	From Throat to Soul	56
	The Breathing Throat: Crux of Life and Symbol of the Person	56
	The Desirous Throat: Driving Power and Spark of the Soul	61
	The Soul Amputated from the Body	62
	Rejoining What Has Been Severed	66
3.	God in the Belly	68
	The Entrails: Seismographs of Feeling	68
	The Womb: Compassionate Giver of Life	71
	God's Wombliness	77
	Despising the Menstruating Woman	81
4.	"The Very Hairs of Your Head Are Numbered"	83
	The Head: Crown of the Human Person	83
	The Face: Focus of the Person	85
	Face to Face with God	88
	The Neck: Bastion of Pride	91
	The Nose: Wrath and Patience	94
	The Hair: Vitality and Eroticism	96
5.	"They Have Eyes But Do Not See"	103
	Eyes and Gaze	105
	God Sees	107
	Faith Comes (Also) from Seeing	110
	Seeing and Hearing as Recognizing and Understanding	113
	The Evil Eye	118
6.	"Let Anyone with Ears to Hear Listen!"	122
	"Hearing Is Useful to Those Who Can Hear"	122
	"Hear, O Israel!"	126
	God Hears	129
	Opening the Ears	131
7.	"My Mouth Shall Declare Your Praise"	134
	Eating, Laughing, Kissing, Speaking	134
	Diplomatic and Wise Speech	138
	The Healing and Polluting Mouth	139
	The Speechless Mouth	140
	The Violent Mouth	141
	God's Mouth and Human Words	143
	The Mouth That Speaks Praise	146
8.	"With a Mighty Hand and an Outstretched Arm"	150
	Gestures: The Language of the Hands	150
	Left and Right Hands	158
	Creative and Destructive, Powerful and Violent Hands	161
	Hand and Penis	164
	The Finger of God	168
	With a Mighty Hand and an Outstretched Arm	171
	The World-Creating and World-Sustaining Hands of God	173
	God's Hidden Hand	176
9.	"You Have Placed Everything Under His Feet"	181
	Standing and Walking	181
	The Enemy Beneath One's Feet	184
	What Lies at People's Feet	190
	At the Feet of God	191
	Removing One's Shoes	195
	Washing Feet	197
	The Footsteps of Christ	200
10.	"All Flesh Is Like Grass"	203
	Bones as Sober Evidence of Death	203
	Skin and Bones	205
	Flesh and Bone Related	209
	Signs of Mortality	212
	Rushing Wind as the Spirit of God	214
	The Evil Spirit	216
	Notes	220
	Bibliography	227
	Illustration Credits	236
	Index of Scripture	241

Editorial Reviews

In one handy, highly readable, and reasonably priced volume the authors supply 110 illustrations, slightly less than half of them in vivid color. . . . Body Symbolism in the Bible would make an ideal addition to the required reading list for introductory college and university courses . . .
Journal of Hebrew Scriptures


This little book covers more than its title might suggest.
Journal of Religious History


I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to gain new insights into the biblical symbolism of the human body and to use this understanding to counterbalance the centuries-long Christian history of interpreting the Bible in a way inimical to the body.
Catholic Issues


. . . a scholarly, college-level study of the body parts used as symbol and metaphor in the Old Testament. . . . A fascinating and exhaustively researched study, Body Symbolism in the Bible is a strongly recommended addition to academic Biblical studies supplemental reading lists and reference collections.
The Bookwatch


A very practical use of the material could be in aiding the compilers of a liturgy - each chapter, with its focus on a single body part, could provide a number of very rewarding biblical references and some suggestions as to how their further significance could be explored.
Network

From the Publisher